The Buffalo Sabres media finally met the last free agent acquisition, Christian Ehrhoff, on Wednesday. Ehrhoff and the Sabres both seemed genuinely excited about the Ehrhoff manning the blue line for the next ten years. During the press conference, Ehrhoff described the process that he went through to determine that Buffalo was a good fit for him and one of the biggest thing for him was the commitment that ownership has shown to putting together a winning team:
“I think that since Terry took over the team he has shown that he is very committed to bringing a team together that can win the Stanley Cup and that’s why for me it made a lot of sense and that’s why I joined the team.”
Both Ehrhoff and Lindy Ruff mentioned that Buffalo’s style of play was another big factor for Ehrhoff coming to Buffalo. The defensemen in Buffalo are allowed to join the rush and try and contribute on the offensive end and Ehrhoff had this to say about the style of play:
I talked to Lindy and he told me about the style of play and certainly its nice that they play a similar style to Vancouver and that defensemen are allowed to join the play and that is one of the aspects that I like to do so it was a good fit.
Lindy had pretty much the same thing to say about Ehrhoff:
Christian fits the way we play. We are a team that has our defense involved and get up ice and if you look at the way Vancouver’s defense played and were involved in the offensive side of the game, it is an automatic fit. I think it brings another weapon to us on the power play. He has a great shot and he’s just a real good piece for us as a hockey club.
With Ehrhoff looking to join the rush often, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Sabres line him up with Jordon Leopold or another defenseman that will stay at home just to have a defenseman that will stay back in case of an offensive miscue. With the preseason starting in a month, it will be interesting to see how the new look defense will gel together.